Custom Deck Builders in Arapahoe County

The county's building code for unincorporated areas uses a non-reducible snow load of 30 pounds per square foot. Centennial's residential code also uses 30, while Aurora's city code and Littleton's 2025 building code ordinance each set 40. All four list a frost line depth of 36 inches, so crossing a city limit can change the snow load without changing the frost line.

Littleton's Future City plan puts that city at 5,351 feet, and Centennial's code lists an elevation of 5,830 feet in its design criteria. The National Weather Service's Boulder office notes that seasonal snowfall drops off east and northeast of the higher terrain, from 65 to 70 inches a season in Denver's western and southwestern suburbs to around 47 near Denver International Airport.

The Colorado Climate Center describes intense high-elevation sunlight in Colorado and says thunderstorms are common on the eastern plains and along the eastern slopes of the mountains in spring and summer, often turning severe. For a wood deck, the USDA Forest Products Laboratory recommends protecting both naturally durable and preservative-treated wood with a finish, since weathering can matter as much as decay to a deck's service life.

A low deck runs across the back of a brick and white-siding home, with white posts, a dark top rail and black balusters. Darker border boards frame the deck surface, one railing post carries a light, and short steps lead down to the lawn.

On this tile-roof stucco home, the deck stands on stucco columns with stone caps, and a straight stair run connects it to the paver patio below. A dark gray pergola shades one end.

A low deck and a raised one ask different things of the frame. Pressure-treated wood is generally less expensive and easy to work with, but it may not suit large or high decks, heavy loads or severe weather. Steel is extremely strong and spans longer distances without intermediate supports, and it minimizes movement through heavy snow and wide temperature swings, though it costs more and needs rust-resistant coatings and regular inspections. Our deck framing page covers both.